Gear-case.



PATENTED MAY 9, 1905.

B. L. WATERS.

GEAR CASE.

APPLICATION FILED DBO, so, 1904.

2 BEEBTS-SHEET 1.

EZ/U QVZZOW PATENTBD MAY 9, 1905.

B. WATERS.

GEAR CASE. APLIOATION FILED DEG. 30, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

STATES Patented May 9, 1905.

PATENT OEEICE.

GEAR-CASE.

i 'SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. "789,306, dated May9, 1905.

Application filed December 30, 1904. Serial No. 239,030.

To all 'whom 111i p11/ay con/cern:

11 Be it known that I., BEVERLY L. VA'rnRs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city of Chicago, county of Cook, and State ofIllinois, have invented a certain new and useiul Improvement inGear-Cases, of which the following is a specilication.

My invention relates to gear-cases, more especially those adapted tocover the reduction-gears of street-railway electric motors.

In street-railway work the gear-cases are usually supported directlyfrom the trucks, and consequently have not the benelit oil springs forrelieving them of shock and jar.

The .running-gear and gear-cases of railwaycars are, by reason of thejar of the wheels on the track and the constant stopping and starting oithe cars, subjected to an extraordinary amount of vibration. As a resultcommon gear-cases are very short-lived and are apt to 'be a source ofannoyance and expense Jfor renewals and repairs. j

The object oi' this invention is to provlde a gear-case which shall belight in construction 'plete case.

and yet be comparatively indestructible. The

chiefv features by which this object is attained are, lirst, theconstructing of a case in which the top and bottom halves are eachcomposed oli' three main sheets of sheet metal joined in fa peculiarmanner; second, the placing oi' a reinforcing-sheet at the end of thecase; thlrd, the forming oi' a reinforcing and dust- Ashedding iiange atthe side joints of the case,

and, fourth, the constructing of brackets in a special manner i'orsupportlng the case from the trucks of the cars. Y

I attain my object by the mechanism ilius` trated in the accompanyingdrawings, in whieh-u Figure l is a perspective view of the com- Fig. 2is a fragmentary view taken transversely to the case and showing ythelap construction where the top and bottom case at the smaller endthereof. Fig. 5 is a perspective View ol the outer shell of thesupporting-bracket. Fig. 6 illustrates the blank from which the Saidouter shell is formed. Fig. 7 is a perspective view oi' the inner shell55 ot' the supporting-bracket, showing the same approxilnately in itslinished iorm. Fig. 5 illustrates the blank i'rom which the inner shellis formed. Fig. 9 is a Vfra mentary vertical sectional view showing alnodilied con- 6G struction of the reinforcing and alining flange.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The casing is formed in two halves, which are adapted to part at thecenters of the gearshafts. rIhe upper halt' ol the case consists el thetwo side sheets a n, and the top piece 7), which are all composed ofsheet metal and are riveted together in the manner shown in detail inFig. 2. As shown in said Fig. 2, the 7o top piece has an inside flange7)', while the side sheets o a lap over the top oiI said piece with the{iange a'. Said side sheets are secured to the iiange oi the top piece bby means of a row of rivets a2. The side sheets c of the lower half ofthe case are {ianged and secured to the bottom Z in the same manner. Bythis lap construction at the cornersof the case where the top and bottompieces join the sides not only is dust positively prevented 8o fromiiltering through, but the sides form a brace for the top and bottom,and vice versa. The side sheets aforesaid are cut away symmetrically toform the apertures c c for receiving the gear-shafts, (not shown,) andthe halves of the case are so proportioned as to part along a planedetermined by the centers oi' such shafts.

It is impossible, of course, on accountotl the presence oiI gears tohave any interior bracing 9o for the side sheets, and in the present c:se I have cireumvented this restriction by forming upon the lower edgeof side sheets a a flange a, (shown in detail in Fig. 2,) which isol'l'set in such manner as to lit over the upper edge of the lower sheetc. This flange forms a side sheet c.

vantages in that it forms a substantially dustproof joint between theupper and lower half of the case and also facilitates the adjustment ofthe upper half of the case onto the lower half when for any reason theupper half has been removed.

In order to properly fit over the reductiongears, one of which isnecessarily smaller than the other, one extremity of the case is smallerthan the other, with the top and bottom converging, while the larger endof the case is circular in outline and concentric with the nearest oneof the apertures e. It is well known that a conveXly-curved surface isstrongest for resisting' external pressure, and for this reason the mereform of the larg'er end of the case is a source of strength. Over thesmaller end of the case there is fitted a sheet of metal f, which isextended part way up along the top piece 7) in the manner best shown inFigs. l, 3, and 4. This end piece f is constructed of a single sheet ofmetal, and from the same piece is formed a projecting fiangef in suchmanner that it may be bolted to a corresponding' horizontal flange g onthe end piece g on the lower half of the case. The flanges f/ and g arecorrespondinglyapertured to receive bolts f2, whereby the upper half ofthe case may be removably attached to the lower half. At the oppositeend ofthe case are placed the upper and lower end pieces 7L and z",respectively, which have formed thereon the substantially horizontalflanges L and z", respectively, correspondingly apertured to receive thebolts 7b2, as shown in Fig. 3.

The end pieces f, g, r, and are allsecurely riveted to their respectiveparts of the case, and by preference reinforcing-sheets 0 are fittedinside the case at the parts thereof corresponding to said end pieces f,g, a, and 2. Part of the smaller end of the case is vertical, while theadjacent portion of the top and bottom pieces are oblique thereto, andthe end pieces f and g are so constructed as to cover not only thevertical end parts of the case, but a part also of the oblique portionthereof, the result being that the corners or bends formed between thevertical and the oblique parts of the case are protected by a singlesheet of metal, as bestillustrated in section in Fig'. 4. A lug orbracket j is securely riveted at the smaller end of the case to the endpiece g for the purpose of rigidly supporting the smaller end of saidcase.

rIhe side bracket, which is of special construction, consists of twoshells formed of single pieces of sheet metal, as illustrated in Figs. 5to 8, inclusive. The outer shell it' is composed of three leaves, theupper leaf le being designed to lie substantially horizontal, leaf L2being designed to stand substantially vertical and be attached directlyto the side sheet c, and the leaf 7c3 being designed to connect theother two parts and form a vertical web, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 5.With this construction when the outer sh'ell'is bent into form as shownin Fig. 5 there will be only one cut therein, which will occur where theinner edge of leaf 79 approaches the upper edge of leaf la?. The innerbracket-shell m consistsof three yleaves m', m2, and m3, the leaf m2being designed to be secured against theleaf 7a2 aforesaid and theleaves m and m2 being designed to contact the leaves 7L" and 7a2,respectively. l/Vhen the inner shell ym' is formed up as indicated inFig. 7, there will be only one cut therein, and this will occur at theupper edge of leaf m3. Now it is to be noted that the cut in the innershell m will be adjacent to a bend inthe outershell It', while the cutin said outer shell will be adjacent to abend on the inner shell, withthe result that there Ywill be no pointon `the complete compositebracket where two cuts will come together. The inner `and-outer shells/t' and m are riveted together in the finished bracket,

and the leaves and m2 thereof are securely riveted to the side sheet c.This'produces a remarkably strong and light bracket, which will resistan almost unlimited amount of vibration. In addition to forming `asupport for the case the bracket when bolted to the proper part of thetrucks produces the additional effect of stiffeningand bracing the sidesof the case. This is all the more important because .the case issupported from one side only, a single side bracket being employed inaddition to the bracket j at the end. The reason for employing a-singleside bracket is that the arrangement ofthe motor and car trucks isusually such as to prevent the supporting of the gear-cases frombothsides. In the presentinstance the leaves -c and m arecorrespondingly. apertured toreceive bolts for attaching the case to thetrucks; but it is obvious that the attachment might be made through thevertical parts 7a3 and m3, if desired.

In order to afford ready access tothe gears for-oiling the same withoutthe necessity of removing the upper half of `the gear-case, a hingedoil-door a should be provided at a convenient point in the `top pieceAlthoug'h I prefer toconstruct the flange (o3 of a single piece with theside sheets aa, it is possible to obtain an analogous effect v.by theconstruction shown in Fig. 9, in which a separate overlapping strip a*is riveted to the lower edge of said upper sheet a.

1What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A gear-case formed-in two halves,the sides being parallel and the topand bottom pieces being disposed at right angles thereto and composed ofsheetmetal Yriveted together, one end of said case being circular inoutline and the other end being' smaller, with the top and bottom piecesconverging and the end surface being' substantially vertical; incombination IOO with reinforcing end pieces f and g horizontally flangedfor bolting the halves together, said piece f extending' over the entireend surface of the upper half and over a portion of the top surface tothereby protect the bend or corner in said top piece.

2. A gear-case formed in two halves and having parallel sheet-metalsides; in combination with a single supporting-bracket rigidly attachedto one side of the lower half of said case, whereby the weight ofthecase tends to cause the bulging of the supported side, the upper hali"of the case having a flange ad apted to engage the outsides of the upperedges oi' the lower half to thereby prevent the bulging' of the sides ofsaid lower halt'.

3. Agear-case formed in two halves and having parallelsheet-inetalsides; in combination with a bracket rigidly attached to onehall:l of the case for supporting the same, said bracket having broadfiat surfaces adjacent to the side of the case `for stitfening andbracing the sarne.

4. A gear-case formed in two halves and having parallel sheet-metalsides; in combination with a bracket rigidly attached to one haltl ofthe case for supporting the sanne, said bracket being composite andformed of two intertitting shells breaking joints with each other forthe purpose described.

5. A gear-case formed in two halves and having parallel sheet-metalsides; in combination with a su pporting-bracket rigidly attached to oneside, said bracket consisting' of two interlitting shells formed fromsingle sheets of metal each shell having a top, a back and a verticalrib or web, and the parts being bent up to bring a cut in one shelladjacent to a bend in the other for breaking joints.

In witness whereofl I have hereunto subscribed my naine in the presenceof two witnesses.

BEVERLY L. WATERS.

Witnesses HOWARD Cox, CARoLYN RAF'JERY.

